


Inheritance

by Silurian



Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Future, F/M, Flashbacks, Lineage & Legacies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2018-08-04
Packaged: 2019-05-19 00:12:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14863004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silurian/pseuds/Silurian
Summary: It has been over twenty years since the start of the dead walking the earth.  During that time a lot has changed and so many things have lead to a war that will shake down the very foundation so many brave people had fought and died to build.





	1. Prologue: When a door closes...

**Author's Note:**

> This is a start to a very long story. Tons of flashbacks! So don't worry, your favorite characters will be brought up as we go. This isn't the first fic I've written but its the first one that I'm the most nervous about! I'd love to hear from you all if you like it and where it's going. I also love to hear theories and all those things!

The summer breeze was growing cooler now that autumn was threatening to show its face. No clouds to speak of while the sun was slowly settling into the horizon afar. Two figures lingered within a grassy plot, surrounded by various crosses in different mediums. Some were simple sticks while others were crudely chiseled rock plates or even some piled stones to mark their loved one’s place for eternity. Two beings rested in front of a newly made marker. A feminine figure stood behind the broad shouldered young man. She was hesitant to touch him but they had been there for what seemed like hours in silence. Her long dark blonde hair danced with the movement of the breeze while her gentle hand moved to finally rest upon the leather clad shoulder of the man before her. Her voice squeaked slightly when she first spoke up to him with an apprehension of interrupting him, “Azrael, it’s getting dark. Let’s go back.”

The black haired man’s eyes opened, revealing dark red irises that could pass as brown if someone wasn’t really looking. He stared forward to the marker of his father’s grave. He had made a promise now as he sat upon that grave and he planned to keep it. Slowly, he moved up to his combat booted feet and gave a soft sigh, “Okay...thanks, Judy. Let’s go.” As he turned with her he thought of taking her hand as they walked back towards their homes. Once she moved away he lost his moment and just stopped lingering there to watch her walk away for a moment longer. A smirk crossed his face as he heard the voice of his father in his head making fun of him for being a chicken shit. It seemed you could actually kill the man but not get rid of him. With a shake of his head he continued on towards his own home. It was a decent single family house that now only gave shelter to himself, his twin brother and his mother. The latter seeming to be busy working the sandbag that hung from the porch’s rafters. “Hey mom…” He spoke up to her but she didn’t answer. She continued to punch and kick the suspended bag with trained movements. He sighed softly and ran his hand over his smoothly groomed face and his fingers through his black hair as he opened the door to enter the house. The door led to a breakfast nook that attached to the kitchen in an open floor plan. It was there he saw his brother looming by the window and staring at their mother. Ever since that trip when they were eight years old with their father, Ethan had remained closer to their mother. He had been to the funeral but was one of the first ones to leave. While he knew Ethan cared about the old man...Azrael also knew he would miss him more than his twin would. 

“You think she’s going to be okay?” Ethan asked with a voice filled with worry while he watched his mother, not bothering to even look at the other man. Ethan looked a lot like his brother, but he didn’t work on his muscular stature as much so his build was slimmer, more like a swimmer than a football player. He also kept his hair cut shorter to keep a spiked look more than Azrael’s tendency to keep his hair slightly longer in length and slicked back. It really seemed more that Azrael was a twin of his father and Ethan did his best to stay apart from that.

“I don’t know. But mom’s got it. She’s tough.” Azrael dismissed his brother’s concern while he fixed himself a quick snack from the pantry. He needed something to eat before he went out on patrol. Walkers weren’t as plentiful these days, they tended to roam in larger groups. It was like some sick sense of instinct that brought them together in herds. There were also worse things out there than slow and hungry biters. 

“She’s like forty years old...she’s working out like she’s our age. She’s going to push herself too hard.” Ethan spoke up again with his worry for their grieving mother.

“She’ll be fine.” Azrael rolled his eyes as his back still faced his brother while he finished the simple meat and cheese sandwich. The bread was always fresh and the people seemed to finally perfect cheese, not that he knew much different… He had no idea what the world had been like before all of this. He had been born years after all of the downfall of the world happened. His dad always liked to comment on how things used to be and who he’d screw just to get a decent hoagie or whatever the man had been craving at that moment.

“Her knuckles are bleeding…” Ethan frowned turning to see the back of his brother but was satisfied when Azrael finally turned to look in his direction again. But he wasn’t too thrilled with the irritated look on his face.

“Leave her alone Ethan.” Azrael’s words grew a little harsher to him. He couldn’t stand how much of a worry wart he could be. Always second guessing things.

“You’re being naive she’s going to self destruct at this rate.” His hand threw up to gesture towards the window as if that alone was going to make this argument turn in his favor.

“And you’re being an idiot! Let her fucking grieve in the way she fucking wants to. We just fucking buried him! She deserves to be left the fuck alone for now…” He tried not to yell but Ethan was just pushing his buttons and turned on his cursing button with his frustration. 

“But, what if this pushes her? What if her heart can’t handle it? Didn’t uncle Ethan tell you what could happen?”

“Yea, he loves to shove that information in my face every chance he gets. She is fine! I’m fine! I’m done talking about this and I better not see you harassing her.” Azrael pointed his finger at his brother just for emphasis. He hated that they kept clashing but unfortunately as much as they had shared their own mother’s womb their mindsets couldn’t be any more different. He sighed and shook his head before leaving the house with his sandwich in tow. He could eat on the way since Ethan was being less than good company. The sound of his mother’s grunts of effort in her ‘exercise’ made him look in her direction once more. That punching bag had been resting from the rafters of the porch ever since he could remember. It wasn’t the first time he’d seen her work the bag but this was the first time he saw her push this hard. Ethan had a point, but Azrael learned the same lesson his father had to over his lifetime. When Silurian was mad, you stayed out of her way.


	2. A window opens...

Alexandria was booming, the community nestled within what was formerly known as Virginia. In fact every community within their network was growing successfully. They had implemented windmills to help with processing grains and electric generators. And while cars became a rarely used commodity, horses were the new staple of transportation. Cows, chickens and fields were peppered throughout the old and new homes. They even had to expand the wall a time or two to keep up with their own populations.

New people were hard to come by these days, it seemed if you ever saw anyone new that they were already with a group. Thankfully things had died down in the way of conflicts as well. There wasn’t as many masses of human beings trying to make a name and territory for themselves. It also helped having the backing of other communities in case one decided to pop up. 

Azrael couldn’t help the smile on his face as he took in his surroundings. It had changed so much even from when he was young but this was his home and the stories he heard of what they had to do to keep it standing. Well, it made this the most beautiful thing on earth. With the setting sun the lights slowly turned on. Lights in houses and lights along the street. They had repurposed old large bulbed clear christmas lights to keep the street lit for travel. The lights would be shut off in a few hours, long enough for everyone to finish their work and settle into their homes for the duration of the evening.

He walked while finishing his sandwich, keeping an overall brisk step while walking across town. It was his turn for watch on the south wall and he was running a little late. Given the circumstances he doubted anyone would mind but he still hated to leave the other guard there longer than necessary. There really didn’t seem to be a need for the guards they had these days, you were lucky if you even saw something undead staggering through the grass. But it would be their luck the moment they eased back that something would happen to make them regret it.

His thoughts were interrupted, as well as his pace, as a perky redhead popped in front of him. Her hair was pulled back in a pony tail and she was dressed in a simple pair of jeans and a button up long sleeved shirt. He ate the last piece of his sandwich as she showed a piece of paper to him, “Hey...I know Sil usually wants to know the inventory and everything but I’m not so sure I want to bother her with it now. She seems to be in that scary zone.”

“Yea, I’ll take it. I’ll put it on her desk when I get home. She will probably see it in the morning when she’s feeling better.” Azrael took the page and glanced at it himself. “This is pretty low.”

“I know. Our crops aren’t doing too good this year. Nothing seems out of ordinary just isn’t producing like before.” Anna frowned and placed a hand on her hip while she adjusted to standing still for the moment with her discussion. 

“Okay, maybe we need to make a call to Kingdom or Seraphim. See if they’re having the same problem. We might need to do some extra trading come fall.” Azrael felt his heart racing some as he thought of possibilities to fix this issue for his community. His father was barely in the ground and it seemed that he needed to take the reigns already. He knew his mother would stubbornly keep control and he really didn’t mind that but when she was ready to finally relax and let someone else run the show he would be there. He only hoped that he had the community behind him as well. 

“If they aren’t having the same problem. Come winter, maybe we should make plans to move the fields around.” Anna offered her own advice to the younger man. She wasn’t that old herself, early forties, but she did have a bit more experience when it came down to the fields.

“Right. Like I said, I will put this on her desk. We can all discuss field movements when it comes to that. I have to get to my post before the guard thinks I’m not going to relieve him.” He offered a smirk to the woman before he folded the paper and placed it in the back pocket of his dark jeans. “Have a good night.”

“You too.” Anna watched as Azrael moved away from her towards the south gate. It was hard to know what exactly was going to happen to their community now. With one leader down, the weight was going to push heavily on the shoulders of the widow. She had no doubt that Silurian was strong enough to handle it. What she worried about was when the weight shifted to the brothers.


	3. Unspoken Danger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the Kudos! I hope you enjoy the next chapter! More information revealed and new questions! Don't forget to leave a comment, let me know what you like or don't! ^.^

The sound of her beating heart echoed through her head. It had gotten dark and the light from the porch barely gave way to her figure standing next to the suspended sand bag. Time had passed so quickly when she had been lost in her excuse for an activity. The woman’s one blue and one green eye could see the blood smeared over the bag. She was finally able to focus on it and not the see the pain that pushed her forward. A pain she couldn’t measure and wouldn’t be able to measure. Everything in her small world would constantly remind her of him, make her feel like he was still with them. 

It was a bitter sweet thing. In her younger years she probably would have destroyed the house by now. She would have found something, anything to take her rage out on. But things were different now. She was older and wiser. It was better for her heart too. She looked down at her hands, blood covering her knuckles from her relentless attack to the exercise equipment. Damn him.

Silurian moved over to the railing of the porch, placing her hands on it as she took a look at the winding down community before her. She had a good view of it and the main gate. The houses, the windmill and other various workshops. Memories flooded her mind of the past twenty years and she was thankful there had been far more good times than bad. Life had been hard on her ever since she was eleven but that man she married had been a powerful influence upon her happiness. Now that he was gone, it was hard to decide how she planned to move forward. The light breeze carried a few strands of her long black hair over her face while her mind wandered. A familiar face caught her attention as if the woman had suddenly appeared. She probably walked up like any normal person but unfortunately Silurian’s mind had wandered and her eyes hadn’t really been watching what she was looking at.

“Hi Silurian. I...just wanted to thank you. I would have rather thanked him but...I’m sorry I’m not trying to be rude. I just needed you to know we appreciate his sacrifice.” The older woman with greying pinned back hair spoke up with a young child, probably around eight or so standing in front of her with a box in his hands. She held her hands rested on the boy’s shoulders and kept him in place while he stared at the ground.

“No, it’s okay. It probably was the only way he would have rather gone out.” She really couldn’t help the smile on her face even as her eyes glazed over to betray her in showing her pain. Those eyes turned down to look at the boy and memories of her own sons at that age came flooding back to her. That weekend the boys and him went camping alone. It had been especially stressful but everything had worked out in the end. It was a miracle, but it worked out. So many close calls and so many triumphs.

The woman's eyes widened as she saw the blood drying upon the Silurian’s hands. “Oh my! Are you okay?”

Sil looked down to her hands and that smile faded into a smirk. “I’ve got a first aid kit inside. I’ll be fine. Thanks. Have a good evening.”

“Oh wait please! Go ahead and give it to her.” She gave a gentle push to the child to send him towards the porch steps. He still was reluctant to look Silurian in the eyes as he rose up the box so that she could take it.

Silurian had moved along the porch until she reached the steps and smiled as she took the box from the boy. “Thank you. That’s very kind.” 

“I figured you might not think about eating so...it’s something.” The woman still sounded nervous as she spoke, as if she expected Silurian to scream and have a fit right on that porch. She would have if it had been her husband.

Silurian took her leave then, moving from the porch to within the house. She was quick to place the box on the island of the kitchen and move out into the connected living room. The more of the house she saw the more she wondered if maybe she should just ask someone to switch houses. She would take it easy, not do anything rash but it all seemed too much. Sitting down upon the couch seemed like a good compromise from ascending the stairs and laying in bed. How could she ever lay in that bed without him laying next to her?  
With the silence of a ghost, Ethan appeared with a first aid kit. Since the hours had passed, he had changed into a more comfortable set of clothes. Black sweatpants laid low on his hips and the matching black tank top shirt clung tightly to his lean build. The shirt he wore left the large circular thick scar on the top of his shoulder visible to the world. He placed the first aid box on the coffee table and sat himself there was well. No words were exchanged between him and Silurian as he opened the kit then took his mother’s hand to help clean the cuts and bruising. He took a damp disinfectant bandage and softly wiped the blood away to find where the wounds laid so he could place a dry bandage in the appropriate places. This was hard on all of them but he was mostly worried for her. He had hoped that she wouldn’t have resorted to violence but it was far more controlled than he had expected.

During the process he turned the woman’s arm around to see the veins trailing under the softer side of that forearm. Veins were normally a blueish color, but the ones he saw had a far more dark color to them, nearly black. His face turned with worry while he went to work on the other hand.

b

“I’m fine Ethan.” Silurian finally spoke up to him, knowing what was running through his head.

“If you’re not careful…” He didn’t even want to finish the sentence. He had only heard stories from his mother and his Uncle, warnings of what could happen if either himself or his brother let the temptations of anger and aggression take over. It was the things of nightmares and he never wanted to see any of his family like that.

“I know. I’ve dealt with the Virus far longer than you have. I can handle this. So please, don’t worry about me.” As she spoke her bandaged hand reached up to rest against her son’s cheek. “We will get through this. All of us.” She forced that smile upon her lips again as he continued to fuss over her other hand, not seeming to want to look at her. It was hard on all of them and their journey from this point on had just began. A new chapter to a life with a big piece missing in it...


	4. An Understanding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was twenty years ago, Silurian was just eighteen, when their paths first crossed. Knelt on the floor, she came eye to eye with the devil himself. It was the first and last time she ever second guessed whether she had what it took to be a leader.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoy this! Finally someone you'll recognize! ~.^

“Silurian!” 

The loud bang against metal and yelling of her name came from behind her closed door. She gave a snarl and from behind the rusted metal desk. Her slender a curved frame sat hunched over her work. Long straight black hair lingered over her face as she stared at that door. One almond shaped blue eye and one matching shaped green eye watched the door. Her eyes were outlined in black coal and faded out into a smokey eyed effect. She used it for intimidation purposes to highlight her strange colored eyes and it helped create unease from their intensity. At her age it was hard to get older people to listen to her and she used everything she could do avoid physical confrontations. In the end she had the skills to take down a full grown man without a second though, but she had yet to need to show that side of her. 

From the urgency in the sound,something was happening but she still hated being disturbed. She had plans strewn over her desk for new tunnels and accesses to new cities. They had just breached new ground and needed to secure their access points while maintaining structural integrity of the tunnel. But the yelling and the pounding didn’t stop. She rose from behind the desk and went to her door to open it. “What is it?” Her voice gave hints to her oriental lineage but the states had been the only home she had ever known. That question was demanded from the man that stood in front of her but his face was all she needed to see to know that his reaction wasn’t disingenuous. 

“There’s armed men flooding the tunnels. They’re heading this way we need to go.” The man was young, around mid twenties with a ragged beard. It looked like he attempted to keep up with trimming it but had little luck. His clothes were covered in dirt, covering up the blue color of his jeans and the green color of the buttoned shirt. His blonde hair was as haphazard as his beard with its length pinned back to keep out of his face.

“Have we evacuated the others?” Silurian said with concern in her voice, they couldn’t just leave her people behind to be murdered or worse.

“There’s too many of them. I don’t know who we still have and don’t. We need to go now!” The blonde man grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to follow him down the corridor. The tunnels were lit but the lights were varied from whatever they could find. Each light was about three to four feet apart, just enough to light the way without having to use resources unnecessarily. They moved swiftly until they reached the access hub to the other tunnels. It was a large circular room with two other exits, but all they could see were men and a even a few women with guns of various sizes and design. Each exit tunnel was blocked off except from where they came, at least until even that was blocked off. Silurian turned around only to see their exit close by the imposing features of these people. She moved in closer to the middle of the room with her companion before some of those men rushed forward and shoved them both down onto their knees. They were searched for weapons and a knife was taken from the holster at her thigh.

It was then that she heard a strange noise. It was hard to make out with the commotion of the men until they went silent. The crowd moved back to give room to a man clad in a black leather jacket. He had been whistling a two toned tune to announce his arrival and once he stood before them that whistling had stopped. Silurian’s hair hid her face, her eyes peering through those long black bangs to see the ruggedly handsome man towering over her. He had the most grating amused grin upon his face with a salt and peppered short beard, dark hair was cut short but long enough to slick back in a classic look. He wore a black leather jacket and matching black jeans. There were two belts around his waist, one for those pants and another for a rather impressive buck knife. It seemed to be his only weapon, except for the one in his leather gloved hand. A wooden bat wasn’t all that terrifying but the barbed wire that wrapped around its end increased the intimidation factor easily by ten fold. There was just something about those sharp spikes that made a person cringe. Which undoubtedly was the point. His dark eyes were intense while he stared down at them, seemingly in a manner of deciding whom was his first target. Whether it was for the target of that bat or for interrogation was left to be seen.

“So just what do you have to say for yourself, for your people?” Heavy boots thudded against the dirt floor as the strange man came forward to walk in front of the blonde man.

“Leave him alone.” Silurian snapped quickly, not wanting this brute to do anything to her friend.

“I’ll get to you in a moment sweet cheeks just wait your turn.” 

“She’s the leader.” A voice came up from crowd at the sides to interrupt his attempt to reign down upon the man.

“Her? No shit? Well surprise the fuck out of me. “ He looked genuinely surprised as his attention turned fully to Silurian now, giving a side step so that he was standing right before her. “Let me look at you.” The man spoke with his deep gravelly voice while he carefully moved the barbed wire bat up close to Silurian’s face, using the weapon to move her long hair back away from her face in a surprisingly careful manner. He really didn’t want to yank her hair out, just move it. “Holy shit. Where the hell did you come from? Those eyes are creepy as shit. And that little smokey stink eye thing you got going. No wonder people follow your orders. Damn. Here I was thinking all of this underground shit was orchestrated by some old subway man and here you are. Are you even fucking legal? Even had your cherry,” he even made a popping noise before he continued, “popped? You just intimidate the shit out of anyone weak enough to cross your path huh?” His words were a relentless barrage of questions and prodding to see if she would twitch or crumble. He was looking for a weakness and was not finding any.

“You have no idea what I’m capable of.” Silurian’s voice was defiant but calm. She was in a losing situation but she wasn’t about to let the man think he intimidated her in the slightest. Her body was on the ground and on her knees as she had been instructed, her hands resting on her legs with no inclination that she was going to do anything rash. 

“You’re probably right.” He placed both hands tightly around the handle of his beloved bat. “But you’re sure as shit going to find out what, I am.” Without a second thought that bat moved up into the air. Silurian half expected it to land right down on her head but she only felt the warm splash of liquid upon her face before she realized what had happened. Her companion crumbled down onto the floor before her, blood and bone exposed from his head before another crash of that bat came down. One crunch after another until blood pooled around that body and her own. Only when the man became winded did he finally stop and stood himself upright. He wiped some blood from his face with his gloved hand. 

Even as her companion was being beaten to a pulp she remained stoic in that kneeled position, with her head held up high. He may have hindered her but he hadn’t broken her. “I. Am. Sorry. I’ve been fucking rude. I’m Negan. These are my Saviors. You quit moving north with your shit. Stay away from my outposts and my land. I so much as hear a fucking whisper about you little underground shits and I will be back to finish the fucking job. Then you’ll be working for me or under me.” He grinned as he added that double entendre statement while his tongue rolled out over his lower lip. “Got it?” Fortunately for Silurian, Negan had admired her spunk.

Those eyes almost sparkled as she turned them up to the man’s face and into his eyes. “Got it.” Silurian was angry, seething on the inside. She was in a dangerous situation and provoking the man wasn’t going to help her or anyone else that remained within her community. Just from the armed men that surrounded her, not to mention her friend on the floor next to her, she knew she drew the lucky straw. 

“But hey,” Negan didn’t seem to be finished as he crouched down right in front of her again so he could get an even better look at her angular face. “We aren’t fucking monsters. If you need help, find that this little underground ship of yours is fucking sinking. The men just aren’t seeing things your way. Just come on over and ask Daddy Negan for help.” His gloved hand reached out to brush over her cheek while he kept that charming smile playing upon his lips. “I’ll make sure to take care of everything.” He couldn’t help leaving an opportunity to help a pretty lady. Not that she realized that the fact that he was even leaving her community alone was a huge favor in and of itself. 

He rose back up to his feet, that smirk still on his face as she gave no inclination of a response to his offer. As he walked away a skinny mustached dark haired man caught up in stride with Negan. “You sure about this? Just going to let them go?”

“That right there is a fucking predator. You see those eyes? I’m not fucking with that shit. But if you want to live down here Simon…” Negan turned his head to his right hand man as he smirked jokingly. In reality Negan didn’t like picking on the underdog, especially a female underdog. They crossed a line but no one was killed or anything was taken, he really just had to mark his territory and he felt that had been done sufficiently enough for now.

“No...that’s fine.” Simon was quick to interject the thought of being stuck down underground in what seemed like haphazard tunnels didn’t sit well with him anymore than it did in that moment. How did these people know the ceilings would hold?

“That’s what I fucking thought. Move them out.” The order was barked by the leather clad man as he turned to immortalize the look of the defiant woman knelt by the man that served for their punishment in his mind. He may end up regretting this, but even if he did he had no problems raining hell down upon them for it. A part of him even hoped they would screw it up and he could spend some more quality time with the scary eyed Asian. When he finally turned to leave, his beloved bat was resting upon his shoulder, blood dripping onto his jacket all the while his lips whistled his eerie Savior tune.

The man was finally leaving, he gave his message and he turned heel and left with his men. She would heed his warning, revise their tunnels and their defenses. This was an unfortunate learning experience and she was determined they would rise from it like a phoenix from the ashes.


	5. It's All More Complicated Than You Think

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So many stories to tell! I hope you like this chapter, let me know! Just a reminder that this is an alternate universe so some things have happened a bit differently from the show and comic.
> 
> Some extra credits to Randy for his contributions to this story!

Azrael sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck on the way home. Everything was silent and dark. He knew the way like the back of his hand so he really didn’t need any light to travel down the paths to the two story house. It had been a long night of keeping a look out over the wall of Alexandria. Pretty uneventful too. The more years passed the less new people they came across and the further they had to reach out for new resources. The latter was far more dangerous, if they ran into a group of people like themselves it could start another war. There had been a few in their recent past but it seemed non had been as deadly as the united three communities against Sanctuary. Sanctuary was long gone, having been blown up and burned to the ground before he was even born.

He opened the door to his family’s home and softly closed it behind him. The lights were all out except one in the stairwell that was left on so he could see his way easier when he came home. Those footsteps sounded as softly as he could manage as he moved through the kitchen, put his jacket down on the nearest chair and entered the living room. A shuffling sound caused him to pause and look around to notice his mother laying on the couch. It took him a moment to realize she was asleep before he moved in closer. He pulled the blanket off the pack of the couch so he could lay it over her, the light just enough for him to see she had gotten her hands bandaged. That reminded him of the piece of paper in his back pocket. He turned and headed up the stairs, pausing by his mother’s office door for a moment before he continued on. The list was taken out of his pocket and left on his dresser. She didn’t need to worry about this yet. He could easily make a few calls first before needing to involve her, and if he managed to solve their problem on his own. Well, then maybe it would put his mother at ease.

The next morning Azrael waited until Silurian was well on her way into her daily duties. It would give him the chance he needed at the long range radio in her office. Eugene had done quite a lot over the years with gearing up all the communities with proper communications and electricity. 

“This is Azrael from Alexandria, come in Kingdom.” He waited for the answer to come from the other side. It felt like ages before he finally heard a voice. Looks like the damned thing still worked.

“This is Danny speaking for the Kingdom.”

“Danny Grimes?” He wasn’t sure if he recognized the voice correctly or not.

“It’s been awhile Azrael, what’s up in your neck of the woods?”

“We buried Dad yesterday, but other than that…”

“Oh, right I heard about that. Sorry man. I know how it feels. It gets better sort of.”

“That’s what everyone says.” Azrael went silent for a moment as he thought of a personal question. “How did your mom handle it?”

“She’s still off with Siddiq roaming the ocean currents as far as I know...what do you think?” Danny rolled his eyes, the annoyance for his mother’s actions in his voice were a bit obvious. 

Azrael frowned a little. If Michonne could run off like that then he couldn’t put that past his own mother. Silurian was such a perfectionist though, he doubted she could fathom giving up the very thing she spent half of her life organizing and taking care of. But stranger things had happened when it came to that woman. “Anyway, I wanted to know how your food reserves are holding up over there. Our crops aren’t doing too well and we’re not really sure why. We may need to move our fields but I wanted to know if the Kingdom could spare any food if we need it come winter.”

“Ah, let me look.”

“What’s got you in Kingdom anyway? Did you ditch the solitary life?”

“Well ever since Judy moved out to Alexandria, I got pretty lonely.” Danny laughed into the radio as well. “Needed something to do and Kingdom was the closest.”

Azrael smirked and shook his head as he went quiet and waited to see if the man would find the information he was waiting on.

“I got the records here and looks like everything is on track for a surplus this year. I have to run this by King Benjamin, but the bounty of the Kingdom is available to you...as long as things hold out. I’d promise it to ya Az but you know how shit goes around here.”

“Yea I know. That’s fine, just good to know we still have friends out there.”

“Did you call Seraphim yet?” Danny inquired.

“They were my next call if you didn’t work out.”

“I’d still ask. You don’t want to end up asking them when you’re desperate.”

“Wow, yea thanks for the advice old man.” Azrael scoffed.

“Hey! I’m younger than you, asshole.”

“By like a week...get over it. Alexandria out.” Azrael chuckled before he gave a sigh. He really didn’t want to contact Seraphim. If he was lucky, it wouldn’t be Beth on the other side, but there was no guarantee to that.

*.*.*

“You need to learn these things if you are going to be effective in leading your community. Food is a priority. There is no scavenging anything edible anymore.”

This was the other thing Azrael wanted to avoid when it came to talking to Seraphim, the lecture. He felt like banging his head on the desk in front of him as he listened to Maggie nag. “I know Mrs. Cline.” Just because the woman came from an actual farming background didn’t mean she had the right to go off like that. Then again, he supposed it was just general concern. “We have our best people working on our fields and they have no answer to why our crops aren’t producing as much as they used to. We may need to switch field plots but I just wanted to give the heads up in case we needed some help getting through this winter.” Though if it came to asking Seraphim for help or starving he figured his mother would pick starving.

“We are always willing to help those in need Azrael. Including Alexandria. Come next planting season we should do a seed exchange, its possible the genetic lines of our seeds might be weakening. Mixing them up will make the next batch of seeds stronger.”

It made sense to him but then again he wasn’t a farmer. Azrael came from a family of warriors, if one had to put a label on them. This just wasn’t his thing, but he was prepared to lead his people through a hard time if need be. “That sounds like a good plan, thank you.”

“No---”

“Hi Azie!!!” A sharp perky voice interrupted Maggie over the radio.

Azrael groaned before her turned the radio on again. “Hi Beth.” Maggie and Nathan’s daughter. She was like the little sister that would never go away that also had a stupid school girl crush on you. He did his best to put up with her but she really cramped his style, thankfully she lived in Seraphim and rarely did they actually see each other.

The radio was silent for a few minutes, Maggie probably shooing the teenager away from her business call. “Sorry about that.” Her southern drawl came out more the more irritated she was. “As I was saying. No problem. We’re here to help. Uhm, Beth wanted me to ask about it the cookout.” She spoke cautiously, knowing the subject was a little sensitive.

To help strengthen the ties between their communities, each one had a different event each year that everyone was invited to. Winter was hard enough for each community that they didn’t bother with making anyone feel guilty on whether or not they could travel realistically. The Kingdom had a spring festival to bring in the new crop season and celebrate then new year. Seraphim had a rodeo every summer to show off the horses and other animal husbandries. The fall had Alexandria all over it. It had been his father’s favorite ‘holiday’. It was a day to talk shit, cook steaks, burgers anything on a grill would do, and drink. There were a few men that brewed their own liquors and it became the day of sampling the new batches. All of the older people compared it to a massive super bowl party, he had no frame of reference but he was familiar with the game.

Azrael snapped out of his thoughts after a long moment to answer the woman. “I will have to talk to mom but I know he wouldn’t want us to cancel it on his account.” Maybe they should even make a bigger deal of it this year and really celebrate the man that helped make Alexandria what it was today.

“Just let us know. We will plan to make it until you say otherwise.” At the very least it would be an excuse for them to pay their respects to the fallen leader. No matter how much she may be unable to forget the man. She had her chance to kill him once and so many times she regretted not doing it and so many times she despised herself for thinking that way. But the man was gone now and his sins finally laid to rest.

Maggie sighed as she placed the radio down and looked over at the sparkling expectant eyes of her daughter from the other side of her desk. “You heard him, now scoot. Have you finished your chores?”

The brunette gave an excited smile before she was reminded of chores for it to fade and make her groan. “I’m going. Oh! I can ask Priya if she’ll help me make a new dress!” Bethany was out the door as quick as her feet could take her.

The middle aged woman couldn’t help but chuckle and shake her head. How she prayed that her daughter would find someone else to fawn over than the damned Negan boy. It probably would serve them right. Life was like a big joke sometimes and her connection to that murderer just kept punching back. His people terminated her first pregnancy, he killed her first husband in front of her and that was only the start of it.

She rose up to her leather booted feet and walked into the bathroom so she could splash some water onto her face. The water was refreshing but as she dabbed the liquid away from her face her green eyes looked into the mirror to see the most apparent mark Negan left on her. Between the part of her long thick brown hair, on her right cheek there were scars. The summer sun tanned her skin but never those marks. They stuck out in their crisscross patterns, a constant reminder of the night Negan nearly killed her.


End file.
